It’s do-or-die territory now for the Haliburton County Huskies as they get ready to kick off a seven-game playoff series with the Newmarket Hurricanes this weekend.
Despite a strong end to the regular season, claiming three of four points in a double overtime defeat to the Collingwood Blues Feb. 27 and dominant win over the Stouffville Spirit Feb. 28, the Huskies finished fifth in the Ontario Junior Hockey League’s East Conference, one place lower than Newmarket. That gives the Hurricanes home ice advantage in the post-season’s opening round.
The blue and white had a winning record against Newmarket across four games this year, going 3-1, but head coach Jordan Bailey doesn’t think that will have much bearing once the puck drops in game one March 7.
“It’s good that we’ve had success against them, but playoffs is a different animal altogether. In the secondround last year against the Toronto Jr. Canadiens (now the Newmarket Hurricanes), it was the opposite. We only beat them once in the regular season, but won the series,” Bailey said.
“So, while we know we can beat them it really doesn’t mean anything once we’re into the grind of playoffs,” he added.
The bench boss said he’s been consistent with his players all year on what he expects from them on the ice. After a tough start to the season, the team turned things around in November and, since before the Christmas holidays, have been one of the league’s strongest squads.
Boasting one of the OJHL’s best goaltending tandems in Owen Edwards and Carter Nadon, and with a power play that looks to be firing on all cylinders, the Huskies are well-positioned to make another extended post-season run, Bailey said.
“Knowing we have Owen and Carter there to back us up gives the team a lot of confidence. It really helps having two guys who are always ready to go in your back pocket,” Bailey said.
He added, “our special teams have been performing well down the stretch, which has definitely given us a boost… but come playoffs, special teams get much tougher because you’re playing the same guys night in and night out.
Against these guys last year, we only scored one power play goal in the whole series and they didn’t score any.
“We’ve just got to stick true to what got us here and play our game for a complete 60 minutes. We’ve got to play north and make sure we’re chipping pucks behind their defensive line; make sure we’re not turning over things and allowing them to counter. They’ve got a lot of offensive firepower, so how we manage the puck is going to determine how well we do in this series.”
Bailey said the team is fully healthy ahead of Saturday’s post-season kick off.
While the team doesn’t have home advantage – meaning they’ll only play three games this series in Minden – Bailey believes local fans have a big part to play.
“Our community support is one of the best in the league. I would assume a lot of fans will travel, like they always do, so we’ll have a bunch of fans cheering us on in Newmarket. And we’ve seen in previous years how big a difference they make in our home rink,” Bailey said. “We just can’t thank them enough. This team doesn’t have the success it’s had over the past five seasons without them.”
Graduating stars honoured
Before the Huskies 4-1 shellacking of the second-placed Spirit, there was a special moment on the ice for 20-yearold players Christopher Brydges, Carson Durnin, Jack Cook and Nate Taylor – who are all wrapping up their junior hockey careers.
They gathered with their families pre-game, with the Huskies organization acknowledging their contributions this season.
Brydges enjoyed a standout performance, contributing three assists, with Cook also tallying an apple. Goals were scored by Nic Ferrante, Ryan Fairbairn, Brody Coe and Liam Oravsky.
Post-game, Bailey reserved special praise for his veteran players.
“We talked before the game about making sure we finish on a high note for those guys. They’ve all really stepped up for us at different times this season and it was nice to be able to recognize them a little bit,” Bailey said. “Ending on such a high note with a win was perfect.
Round one schedule
Game 1: March 7 in Newmarket, 4:30 p.m.
Game 2: March 8 in Minden, 3 p.m.
Game 3: March 10 in Newmarket, 7:30 p.m.
Game 4: March 12 in Minden, 7 p.m.
Game 5: March 14 in Newmarket, 4:30 p.m.
Game 6: March 15 in Minden, 3 p.m.
Game 7: March 18 in Newmarket, 7:30 p.m.
